Save Vs Rant

Episode 13 – Seafall

November 06, 2017 13:35 - 27 minutes - 29.8 MB

Today’s episode is all about the game SeaFall, a 4x inspired Legacy game by the ingenious designer Rob Daviua. Despite the fact that Daviua is a living legend, we at SVR do not recommend SeaFall. It is our opinion that the game has too many flaws to provide a game experience we feel is up to … Continue reading "Episode 13 – Seafall"

Episode 12 – Lore

October 16, 2017 07:07 - 30 minutes - 32 MB

Today at Save Vs. Rant, the story’s the thing as we discuss lore, and why it’s important even in everyday board games. Every game can have a story, whether that story is just an excuse for a game, or the game is just an excuse for a story. “Ok, each turn you choose a player … Continue reading "Episode 12 – Lore"

Episode 11 – Beautiful Math

October 02, 2017 12:41 - 26 minutes - 29.7 MB

Today at Save Vs. Rant, we’re going to be discussing math and logic, the building blocks of games! Remember: if you think you hate math but you like games, what you really don’t like is the presentation of the math, because all games are, at their core, math. Monty Hall, the famous host of Let’s Make a Deal, … Continue reading "Episode 11 – Beautiful Math"

Episode 10 – DMing 101

September 18, 2017 06:00 - 32 minutes - 33.8 MB

Today here at Save Vs. Rant, we hope to give you an introduction to DMing with 10 pieces of advice applicable to virtually any game. We call it – DMing 101! 10 points, a quick review: 1. Remember: You’re Here to Have Fun Having fun and running a game are not mutually exclusive. Some gamers perfer … Continue reading "Episode 10 – DMing 101"

Episode 9 – Missed the Mark

September 04, 2017 12:55 - 32 minutes - 34.3 MB

Today’s topic is Games That Missed the Mark, wherein we discuss some games that we feel failed to live up to expectations. When we talk about games that missed the mark, we aren’t talking about bad games necessarily. Nearly every game on our list is a decent game, but it fails to live up to our … Continue reading "Episode 9 – Missed the Mark"

Episode 8 – Arkham Horror

August 28, 2017 13:10 - 26 minutes - 22.8 MB

Our topic today is Arkham Horror by Fantasy Flight Games, one of our favorite games of all time. The original Call of Cthulhu and other mythos stories were about how insignificant and inconsequential humanity is on a cosmic scale. The notion that we aren’t the top of the food chain – that we are beneath … Continue reading "Episode 8 – Arkham Horror"

GenCon Special

August 28, 2017 12:45 - 23 minutes - 25.3 MB

GenCon’s tagline is “The Best Four Days in Gaming,” and we here at Save Vs. Rant agree enthusiastically. As veterans of the convention, we were overjoyed to have the opportunity to attend the 50th anniversary of the iconic celebration of gaming culture! Today’s special podcast details our experience at the convention and some of the … Continue reading "GenCon Special"

Episode 7 – Initiative

August 07, 2017 14:22 - 25 minutes - 27 MB

Today’s topic is initiative, the determiner of turn order. For most games, initiative and turn taking is essential to ensuring that the game run smoothly, and in role playing games, it is very seldom as simple as going around the table in clockwise order. In nearly every game, there are actions that can be taken … Continue reading "Episode 7 – Initiative"

Episode 6 – I’m Chaotic Evil

July 17, 2017 13:31 - 29 minutes - 23.5 MB

The struggle between good and evil remains one of the most common themes in fantasy literature. Since fantasy is the genre that defined the most popular roleplaying games, it should not be surprising that this conflict is frequently reflected in both the setting fluff and rules crunch of the games. Today, we tackle the topic … Continue reading "Episode 6 – I’m Chaotic Evil"

Episode 5 – Hidden Role Games

July 03, 2017 12:41 - 29 minutes - 29.3 MB

Sometimes called “social deduction games,” hidden role games are games where you are assigned a secret identity that determines your victory conditions. The classic example is Werewolf (sometimes called “Mafia” or any number of other variants), but the genre has expanded to include a diverse set of games. The classic Werewolf / Mafia game, without … Continue reading "Episode 5 – Hidden Role Games"

Episode 4 – Character Death

June 19, 2017 08:07 - 28 minutes - 31.2 MB

In our fourth episode, we get a little heavier and discuss the prospect of character death in RPGs. Some games aren’t meant to be played as long-term campaigns. In these games, character creation is usually quick and dirty, sessions and the game mechanics strongly support a rapid means of removing characters from the game. Dread … Continue reading "Episode 4 – Character Death"

Episode 3 – Kickstarter

May 29, 2017 16:54 - 33 minutes - 35.1 MB

In our third episode, we share our thoughts on crowdsourcing – where it goes right, where it goes wrong and what it means for gaming. One of the most disappointing things about gaming-related Kickstarter campaigns that fail to deliver is the damage they do to future campaigns. Every time a successfully funded Kickstarter can’t fulfill … Continue reading "Episode 3 – Kickstarter"

Episode 2 – Bookkeeping

May 15, 2017 05:00 - 29 minutes - 23 MB

With a wee few exceptions, every game features some sort of bookkeeping, be it tracking the position of the pieces on a board, recording important information about the player’s resources or simply recording the history of the game. In today’s edition of Save Vs Rant, we delve into this topic, discussing both front-end and back-end … Continue reading "Episode 2 – Bookkeeping"

Episode 1 – Power Gaming

May 01, 2017 14:02 - 39 minutes - 42 MB

Power gaming has been a part of roleplaying games since the very first time rules were put to paper. It’s a natural part of the drive and motivation to “win” and an inevitable result of humanity’s will to compete. While we obviously can’t go into all the examples of powergaming in any given system – much … Continue reading "Episode 1 – Power Gaming"

Episodes